Bart's Dasterdly Diner Date With Suzanne
by Lonely in the basement
Summary: Sure it was a disaster, but they had fun. Impulse Cartoon xArrowette


_So, you wanna go on a date with me?_

_ So, you wanna go on a date with me?_

_ So, you wanna go on a date with me?_

Those words repeated in his head even as he waited in the booth of Rusky's diner in Pennsylvania. He hadn't ordered a drink or anything of the like, much too nervous to actually put something in his mouth and ruin all the hard work grandma Iris put into his appearance. He really shouldn't have put on the white button up, it was all sorts of stupid. What if he got mustard on it while trying to eat? He'd look stupid.

Not that he didn't already look stupid. He was sitting on one end of a booth, no food or drink in front of him, dressed to the nines with every strand of hair in place, and no date to speak of. It was already, what, five or ten minutes past the time they were supposed to meet. He didn't know how much leeway there was on expected time arrival and how long to wait before giving up, but either way it was painful sitting here.

"Sorry I'm late."

Bart jerked out of his internal world to see Cissie plop down across from him. Her face was flushed from running and she was a little sweaty. But he was happy she was there, across from him, on a date with him. The entire concept still seemed out of his reach, and he still couldn't grasp it. He was so happy that he didn't notice the pair of sweats and T-shirt she was wearing compared to his button up and slacks.

"You didn't order anything?" She said as she opened the menu.

"No. I-I was waiting for you." He was nervous and he could hear it in his own voice, so he could only imagine what she heard. But it didn't appear she paid it any mind as she ordered a milkshake from the waitress. He ordered the same thing even though he wanted a soda instead. But he wanted to try and replicate the movies he watched no matter how stupid it seemed

"Yeah. My coach was drilling me extra hard today. Like your outfit." She said when their orders were taken. Bart had ordered a double bacon cheeseburger with extra fries. He only ordered one when he could've easily eaten three at least, but he figured he could eat more when he got home. He didn't want to make it seem like he was fat or anything.

"Coach? You're part of a team?"

"Kind of. I take gymnastics and martial arts and stuff. My mom insisted when I said I wanted to be a superhero. She's kind of crazy sometimes."

Bart nodded even though he didn't understand exactly what she meant. It sounded like her mom was just looking out for her. Their food came quickly after they talked a bit about their home lives, Bart bs-ing half of it while Cissie tried to talk more about her dad then her mom.

It was all going great, they were laughing and talking. Drinking their milkshakes while eating their burgers like in the movies. But then Cissie looked past him, over his shoulder and her expression immediately dropped.

She jumped up and leaned over to push his head down, smearing food all over her shirt. "Get down." She whispered as she hit under the table herself. He followed her down, confused, but willing to comply with her orders for the moment.

"What's wrong?" He said at normal volume before she shushed him.

"Call your granddad." She hissed. "Or better yet, text him. Tell him to get over here."

He frowned but pulled out his phone to text Barry still confused. Cissie seemed to be watching something, and grew more nervous as time passed. The waitress came to take their food away, but Bart snatched his under the table so he could finish it despite Cissie's protests.

Heeled feet appeared in the duo the moment after the waitress left, the right one tapping to a hurried rhythm.

"Cissie. Get. Up. Off. The. Floor." Said a clipped, angry voice. Cissie's nerves seeped into Bart's despite the fact that he had faced worse then some lady in heels.

Cissie slowly crept out from their hiding place, followed quickly by Bart who had just finished the food in a hurried pace just in case he lost the plate.

"What. Are you doing. With a boy. Suzanne?"

Her posture leaked hesitance, and he couldn't blame her. This woman was tall and blonde, possessing Suzanne's cheekbones and platinum blonde hair. This must be her mom. No wonder she didn't want to talk about her.

Bart's phone vibrated, giving him a seconds warning before Barry walked through the front door of the diner and spotted them.

"What's the emergency kids?" Barry said as he eyed Mrs. King. He probably thought they got in trouble with the diner owner or that Bart ate too much in a public place again and was on the verge of eating them out of business. If only that were the case.

"Is this, your child?" She said, pointing to Bart with a sharply manicured fingernail. Bart went cross eyed looking at it, it was so close to his face.

"He's my son, yes." Barry had decided to tell people who asked that Bart was his son, not his grandson. He barely looked old enough to be a dad, a granddad was out of the question. Unless he wanted people judging him for being a teenage dad of a teenage dad/mom, which he wasn't, but people assumed and Barry liked to make social interactions as smooth as possible.

"Well then. Since I have you here." Her manicured nail went from Bart to Barry, "Keep your tomcatting child away from my daughter."

"Mom!"

"Quiet Suzanne!"

Barry masked his anger well. He knew that snapping back would not defuse the situation in the least, so he tried to be calm and rational.

"It was an innocent date Mrs. King. As I recall Bart said Suzanne asked him out first."

"YOUR SON LIES!" She snarled. The people of the diner stared at her after she screeched out those words. A waitress went to stand by the phone incase she needed to call 911 while a waiter prepped to split up a fight.

"KEEP HIM AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" She belted out. Reaching an impressive pitch so high that Bart idly thought that she could sing soprano for the opera.

She turned to Suzanne, still seething. "We're leaving Suzanne." She snatched Cissie's wrist and began to forcefully yank her out of the diner. At Mrs. King's exit the diner visibly relaxed, allowing people to return to their meal.

Barry agreed to run with him back to their house, along the way Barry tried to give him a pep talk. "Interesting first date you had. Reminds me of my first date with Iris. I went to her house and her dad glared at me the entire time. He gets up to cut the roast we were having for dinner and I said something about his wife's cooking skills. Next thing I knew I had mashed potatoes in my hair and he's dragging me out of the house."

Bart appreciated Barry trying, but he really wasn't in the mood. Any other day and he would have laughed wholeheartedly at Barry's misfortune. Today, unfortunately, wasn't one of those days. All he could think of was Suzanne and how her mom hated him and how he'd probably never be allowed to date her again.

"Point is kiddo, just cause the rents don't like you doesn't mean it's doomed. It just means you have to think of how to get on their good side."

He sighed, "Thanks Granddad. But I don't think I'll be able to date her anymore. Her mom controls everything."

That launched Barry into a second story, this one with visual hand gestures for emphasis. Bart didn't even pretend to listen to this one, instead sulking as he ran.

Until he got a text. He pulled his phone out of his jeans despite his Uncle's warnings of cell phones and running at super speed. When he flipped the device open he saw that the text from Cissie, too excited to care about his uncle yelling at him he opened it.

_Sorry about tonight. If you don't hate me then I'd love to do it again sometimes. Instead, let's meet at someplace in Star City. Ollie'll cover for us._

Bart's face split into a grin so wide he felt it could tear his face in two. She still liked him. She still wanted to date him. Sure he may not be able to kiss her on the porch of her house, unless it was her dads, but he could still take her to the movies and drink milkshakes with her. He lifted his thumb to send her the response.

"KID LOOK OUT!"

…. Oh, so that's why you weren't supposed to text and run.


End file.
